GAELIC SPORTS WORLD Issue 2 Sample Test, June 5, 2014 | Page 27

In this introductory article, in a series on Gaelic Sports coaching development, Sports
Management professional and GAA Coach, Joe Trolan, questions the parameters to
employ when considering approach.

COACHING
YOUTH
GAELIC
GAMES
GLOBALLY
– IS THERE A
CORRECT MODEL?
By Joe Trolan
The GAA have introduced over
the past few years many different
models for coaching children and
youth. Additionally, provincial
councils and Croke Park have held
conferences that helped underscore
new methods and techniques on
best practices for youth sports. The
question is: with the GAA becoming a more globalized sport and
push to attract an international audience both on and off the field of
play – do we use the models (competitive or non competitive) developed in Ireland for youth players
and teams or use a new model for
international youth players.
The role of how to teach Gaelic
games will become increasingly
strategically important in recruiting and sustaining young people to
the game overseas. The role of the
club is integral in Ireland, but outside of Ireland, the club does not
have the same traditional historical
significance and thus there must be
something else to draw and hold
children’s motivation to play Gaelic
games.
My own and many other experiences at the youth level in Ireland
was as a competitive model, where
winning was important. Recently,
the GAA has instigated the Go
Games model as an alternative to

Is an Irish coaching model going to work internationally? It’s all action at this coaching session at the Seoul Gaels club in South Korea. (Photo: Seoul Gaels)

a highly competitive youth set-up
and to stem the decline of youth
participation and limit the highly
competitive attitude among youth
players and coaches. In line with
this model, sport academic researchers such as Jay Coakley have
shown that when using sport as a
means to an end or with a focus of
win-at-all cost mentality then conflicts arise between individuals and
the continuation of young people in
the game.

sports from a younger age. Consequently, those coaches must try innovative strategies to motivate and
attract youth to the GAA. While
international areas such as North
America have a longer historical connection with Gaelic sports,
the majority of overseas areas do
not have an inherent understanding of the role of the GAA club in
communities. Specifically, in nontraditional diaspora areas such as
Asia there are a lot of competition

Gaelic games offer an amazing,
fun, and exciting sports opportunity
for people but if we use traditional
methods of coaching, it will remain
a minority foreign sport. There are
too few “club games” for traditional
coaching methods and consequently new methods are needed to draw
and keep new players.
These new methods should be
similar conceptually with the GAA
Go Games model where fun and enjoyment are emphasized rather than
competition and competitiveness.
The GAA can attract new members
in Asia and beyond by highlighting the unique enjoyment of Gaelic
games and the offer of learning and
enjoyment rather than competition
and winning.
The next articles will go into detail
about making the Games attractive to non-traditional ar